James Cameron Says Avatar Sequels Are Like The Godfather

Director James Cameron wants you to think of his three upcoming Avatar sequels (which we now know will be filmed in New Zealand) as a family saga along the lines of The Godfather. We’ll just let that lie there a moment.

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Cameron’s point is that ensuing Avatar chapters will cast a wider net. The series as a whole will revolve around the family Jake Sully builds as a member of the Na’vi, rather than focusing on a sole protagonist the way the first movie did. Cameron told AP, "We spread it around quite a bit more as we go forward. It's really the story of his family, the family that he creates on Pandora. His extended family. So think of it as a family saga like 'The Godfather.'"

Sure, Cameron may catch a little flack from clowns like me for asking audiences to compare Avatar to The Godfather. But if anyone in Hollywood deserves the benefit of the doubt, Cameron’s the guy. His movies never fail to entertain or make huge piles of money. Avatar has raked in over $2.8 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film of all time by a wide margin. He also has a habit of casually creating game-changing innovations with every film he makes.

James Cameron on the set of The Godfather, er, Avatar.

For the new Avatar movies, Cameron will be using newly developed software, some of it created by Weta Digital to allow for the large number of underwater scenes depicting sea-dwelling societies in the world of Pandora. Cameron explains that the second movie will not take place entirely in the depths, but will include both land and underwater scenes spread out all over the alien moon.

"We're blowing it out all over the place," said Cameron. At first I thought I was going to take it onto other worlds as well, in the same solar system, but it turned out not to be necessary. I mean the Pandora that we have imagined will be a fantasy land that is going to occupy people for decades to come, the way I see it."

The first of the three planned sequels is expected out in 2016, seven years after Avatar first hit theaters.

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